El Paso Independent School Districtofficials were denied their appeal over the Texas Education Agency's decision to appoint a board of managers to oversee the district's board of trustees.

"They are basically set aside, they have no authority -- if preclearence is approved then the currently elected board of trustees will have no authority," said DeEtta Culbertson, spokesperson for TEA.

According to Culbertson, the TEA will be filing documents with the department as early as early as March 1 for preclearence of their decision.

"We still have to receive preclearance from the Justice Department. We are in the process now of gathering up our documents and we'll file those documents and seek preclearance probably by tomorrow," said Culbertson. 

As KFOX14 previously reported, TEA commissioner Michael Williams requested that the board be stripped of its powers because it failed to catch the district-wide cheating scandal and was not effective in investigating it.

Earlier this month, the trustees' attorney argued that the board was complying with the TEA's demands. The attorney argued that the TEA refused to help the district for two years, the board had cooperated fully with the TEA, it was well-managed and had taken appropriate and timely personnel actions.

On Thursday, TEA officials announced that Williams' decision was final. That was decided by TEA officer Holland Timmons, after a hearing held in Austin on Feb. 7.

"The people of El Paso are ready to begin the work of restoring full trust in their school district," Williams said. "More importantly, those who I have appointed to serve on the board of managers are ready to work in the public interest to again make the El Paso ISD a source of pride for their community and state."

According to Timmons' ruling, the decision to back  Williams' appointment of a board of managers was swayed by the fact that EPISD's accreditation status is "accreditation-probation" while they investigate the cheating scheme that plagued the district. A 26 decision ruling also says that EPISD trustees did not act immediately and decisively modifiy district policies that enabled former superintendent Lorezno Garcia to carry out the cheating scheme. 

EPISD board of trustees believe that TEA left out the fact that TEA did not uncover the cheating scheme either when they were called on to investigate.

"In that time they found no testing incidents -- irregularities involving the TAKS test administrations at Bowie High School," said David Dodge, an EPISD trustee. "If a school district administration can't depend up the Texas Education Agency for help in figuring out if something is going on what are the trustees suppose to depend upon."

On Dec. 6, Williams announced that he would appoint a five-member board of managers to oversee the district,with TEA monitor Judy Castleberry to act as conservator for the district.

Williams named Castleberry, former state Rep. Dee Margo, the city of El Paso's Chief Financial Officer Carmen Arrieta-Candelaria, Public Service Board CEO Ed Archuleta and Blanca Enriquez, executive director of the Region 19 Education Service Center Head Start Program since 1991, as members of the board of managers.

The district then requested a formal record review of the board of managers and an informal review of a conservator, TEA officials said.

The board of managers must be submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice for preclearance before they can take on their responsibilities. Once that is done, they will take on the responsibilities of the elected board of trustees for up to two years, TEA officials said.

A school board election must be called within two years of the board of managers' appointment, TEA officials said.

EPISD board president, Isela Castanon-Williams, released the following statement in response to the TEA's announcement:  

"I am extremely disappointed with the decision issued by the Designee of the Commissioner of Education, and do not believe that it presents a true picture of the relevant evidence that was introduced at the February 7, 2013 hearing. I invite the public to visit the EPISD website www.episd.org to view the transcript of the hearing, especially the cross examination of TEA's witnesses, which does present the facts. Imagine how difficult it must have been for Mr. Timmons, the hearing officer, to consider the evidence impartially, when it was so clear that his boss, Commissioner Williams, wanted the decision to uphold the appointment of the board of managers, as evidenced by his statements in the article appearing in the February 14, 2013 edition of the El Paso Times newspaper. We plan to respond to any preclearance submission by TEA to the Department of Justice, in an effort to protect the voting rights of the citizens of the District and the integrity of the upcoming May 11 election."